Surveyor to take up to 5 hours!!!! Doing what??

MoneyMoose

Having a full building survey done on our house next week and was a bit taken aback when she said it would take between 4-5 hours. You could probably take our house down and rebuild it in that time - it's only a little 1980s house.
Question is, as I really don't want them pulling up my nice floor, drilling into walls, undoing pipes, electrical sockets etc, can I refuse to let them do any of this (if they do any of this, that is), and what an earth will they be doing for 4-5hours? Any tips? Eeeekkk!

muskoka

timeline sounds normal. Don't worry - I've never known them to be taking up carpets/drilling holes/etc.

Milliewilly

The Homebuyers / building survey that was done on my house - he arrived at 9.30am (Was supposed to be 10 I was Hoovering!) and left at 1.30 pm so 4 hours.

The one who looked at my house didn't move any furniture or take up carpets. Electrically he just switched all the lights on and off, checked the central heating and hot water worked. Surveyors can't do any more than that as they arent Gas Safe registered or NICEIC (?) Electrically qualified. One thing I found bizarre was he sepnt ages opening and closing all the internal doors and opening anc closing all the kitchen cupboards. He asl otook the trim off the bottom of the shower tray which I thought was a bit rude and left black handprints on my white wallpaper where he had been in the loft.

Roof wise he just looked with binoculars.

The only tip I've got is make sure they can get in the loft easily as they will definately go in there.

Also have all your paperwork to hand for boiler service, any damp guarantees, building reg certificates etc as they will want to see those so they can report back to the buyer that none are in place....:rolleyes:

Fire_Fox

Millywilly: The doors thing may be looking for settlement/ subsidence/ heave. Doors 'not fitting properly' is an early sign that a property has experienced movement.

Moneymoose: you absolutely shouldn't tolerate damage, but try not to think of the house as 'your' house anymore. The prospective owners have the right to check they are not buying a turkey, wouldn't you want your surveyor to do a thorough job in their shoes? If the surveyor has to recommend a host of other reports as he wasn't able to access certain areas you may end up with builders traipsing round sucking their teeth or, worse, youre buyer pulling out.

MoneyMoose

Thanks for putting my mind at rest - am sure I read
a thread where someone had said the surveyor had damaged their house, and it got me worried.
Am trying to detach myself from the house now, but don't want any damage in case the sale falls through and I have to go back on the market.

Never thought about the doors/subsidence thing - just as well you told me; I would have thought that strange. Think I made copies of the guarantees (gave originals to my solicitor) - bit worried about the conservatory though (have the remainder of a ten year warranty i.e. five years), but not planning permission as it replaced an old conservatory. Yikes!! I hate selling.

Milliewilly

Millywilly: The doors thing may be looking for settlement/ subsidence/ heave. Doors 'not fitting properly' is an early sign that a property has experienced movement.

I know why they do it but he did it so much I thought he had OCD especially with the fitted kitchen cupboard doors too!

juliag

Hi there, although not an expert on the subject i am married to a chartered surveyor and have read out your post to him this is his reply.
A full building survey on a small fairly modern home should take approx 2 hours. He knows of no reason why a surveyor would go round opening your kitchen cupboard doors etc. He would not expect to see any guarentees at all for boilers etc this is the job of your solicitor, in his report he will only state that the guarentees should be checked by your solicitors. A surveyor is not allowed to do anything invasive ie pull up carpets, drill into walls etc.
hope this helps and dont worry!!

MoneyMoose

juliag wrote: »

Hi there, although not an expert on the subject i am married to a chartered surveyor and have read out your post to him this is his reply.
A full building survey on a small fairly modern home should take approx 2 hours. He knows of no reason why a surveyor would go round opening your kitchen cupboard doors etc. He would not expect to see any guarentees at all for boilers etc this is the job of your solicitor, in his report he will only state that the guarentees should be checked by your solicitors. A surveyor is not allowed to do anything invasive ie pull up carpets, drill into walls etc.
hope this helps and dont worry!!

Yes, it helps a lot - thank you!
Now, what else can I worry about???

PS hope it is your husband that is coming round to survey our house!!!!!

juliag

lol thanks, where are you in the country? He covers huge area from Bristol down to taunton across to Shaftesbury and up to bath working for all of the big banks, He has been qualified and working for 25 years and uses common sense which appears to be something many people dont seem to have any more! , have you read his post on Choosing a chartered surveyor, important to realise you can choose your own, you dont have to have the one the banks suggests for you (saves a lot of money when you come to buy your next house!)

joolley

One visited us today in preparation for our sale. Took 2 hours or so. Had to change in and out of overalls to go into the cellar and later the attic, twice. He had a coffee - black, one sugar. And ran back in to check that the boiler was working. Mind it was heating up the house nicely the entire time he was there.

After all this, he said he could find nothing wring with the house. All in, a nice man. Pleasant, and that.
joolley

MoneyMoose

juliag wrote: »

lol thanks, where are you in the country? He covers huge area from Bristol down to taunton across to Shaftesbury and up to bath working for all of the big banks, He has been qualified and working for 25 years and uses common sense which appears to be something many people dont seem to have any more! , have you read his post on Choosing a chartered surveyor, important to realise you can choose your own, you dont have to have the one the banks suggests for you (saves a lot of money when you come to buy your next house!)

We're 'up north' in Yorkshire, so unfortunately it is unlikely to be him!
Didn't know you could choose your own - as our (hopefully) new property involved a bigger mortgage, I thought the building society called the shots - they are providing the money afterall. Oh well, I'll know next time. Still hate selling.